People used to express their feelings, preserve their history and
culture, through folktales before the writing tradition (Delargy, 1947),
as the parents used to tell stories of the past to children
(Wright,1997). This tradition was not only helpful to preserve the
culture but also the identities. Nevertheless, later, some writers
documented folktales in various books while others are untouched even in
the postmodern age. Folktales and archaeological evidence give the
glimpse of the previous generations, especially about their culture,
religions, social norms, and traditions (Bascom,1953). This research
paper is based upon the documentation of a historical oral story and its
thematic analysis in modern perspective. The researcher(s) of this study
has documented the story. The story reflects the culture, religions,
social norms, and traditions of the natives. It also conveys the concept
of postcolonial theory which existed in the minds of the natives but not
in any documented form.

The natives used to live peacefully but they were very much aware of
the destruction caused by colonization (Wa Thiong'o,1992). The
elements of resistance, friendship, and colonization are very prominent
in the Unsung Heroes. In the borderless world they have their own
cultural and religious boundaries but besides these differences, they
were living peacefully. This research paper deals with the thematic
analysis of historical tale "Unsung Heroes" documented by
Rasib Mahmood. This story gives a complete glimpse of the Punjabi
culture, religions, and trans-religious affinity of the natives. The
documented story also signifies the present Hug diplomacy of Navjot
Singh Sidhu and trans-cultural and trans-religious affinity of Muslims
and Sikhs.

Punjab was a province of British-India during the colonial period
(Singh,1981), where Muslims and Sikhs were in the majority (Grewal,
1998), and their brevity and friendship was at a peak at that time. The
natives were very prosperous because of the agricultural land. The
fertility of the land had a profound effect on the minds of the natives.
They were living very close to nature, with the seeds of loyalty and
prosperity. The land was divided into East and West Punjab in the end of
the British Raj (Copland,1982, p.185). The eastern Hindu-Sikh majority
area went under the control of India and western Muslim majority area
came under the control of Pakistan. Here all the natives have a
reflection of the Indus Valley Civilization (Singh,1977).

In ancient times, the province was known as Sapt-Sindhava which
means the land of seven rivers. The Muslim invaders had given the name
Punjab to the land. It was the fact that seven rivers used to irrigate
the native land (Deol, 2003). This civilization is also known as the
Harappan civilization, as the images of the ruined cities and villages
can be found (Agrawal and Sood,1982). Many colonizers governed the
region, but Mughal and Sikh governance are considered more remarkable
(Grewal,1998). It can thus be concluded that many personalities have
contributed to the development of socio-cultural traditions of the
native land.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Cultures and religions are considered as the resistant tools of any
society, community, and country against colonizers (Abu-Nimer, 2001).
They also play a vital role in the representation of native culture and
religion. The same thing was done by the postcolonial writers who have
saved their identity by preserving these tools and using them in their
writings (Said, 1995, p.115). Stephen Greenblatt is of the view that
such type of writings are "invisible bullets" in the arsenal
of empires (Greenblatt and Greenblatt, 1988). He is of the opinion that
texts and textuality have played a significant role in colonization and
conquests (Shakespeare, 1994). Most of the European histories,
anthropologies, and fictional texts have captured the picture of the
non-European subjects in the European framework which read her alterity
as terror or lacking (Conrad, 2010).

Through the explanation and elaboration of the native cultures,
postcolonial writers have rejected the colonizers' presentation of
the colonial culture and their social norms and traditions (King, 2012).
They have also declared that the occupiers adopted authoritative
behavior through suppressing the native voices in the representation of
the native people. In short, the native writers are of the opinion that
all the Europeans presentations about the "others" are based
upon their own assumptions and desires (Said, 1995).

The present study is the textual analysis of the text documented by
the researcher himself. It is a textual analysis of an oral historical
tale in the modern context. This ancient story signifies many
characters, themes, and relationships of the present time. It signifies
that blood, traditions and culture never change with the circumstances.
It is the story of friendship between a Sikh and a Muslim who loved each
other like brothers.

SIGNIFICANCE AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This research paper signifies the trans-culture and trans-religious
affinity between the Muslims and Sikhs in past and implication of
ancient oral stories of Punjab in the present scenario, in the form of
opening of Gurdaspur Corridor. It also presents a long series of
friendships between Muslims and Sikhs. The research also reflects that
Pug Diplomacy of ancient Punjab still exists in the blood of native
Jutts. It has transformed from Pug to Hug diplomacy which can be seen
during the first meeting of Qamar Javed Bajwa and Navjot Singh
Sidhu.

The research paper has something to consider for all the disciplines
of the social sciences and humanities. It not only covers the religious,
cultural, trans-culture, and trans-religious aspects of the region,
besides, it is useful for students of Political Science and
International Relations to understand the cultural ties between the
citizens of Pakistan and India.

DOCUMENTATION OF "UNSUNG HEROES" (SHORT STORY:
SECTION-1)

In history, Punjab was considered as the heart of purity where
friendship was always treated as a religion. The friendship story of two
Muslims and Sikhs was very prominent in the region. They lived like
family members and used to share the stories of regional invaders.
Exchanging the Pugs1 to strengthen the friendships was a customary
practice in ancient Punjab. These ceremonies can be traced through two
historical events. One incident took place when Mutali and Inspector Lal
Singh exchanged their Pugs, while the second incident took place when
Ranjeet Singh and Badhri exchanged their Pugs in a big crowd. They
announced that they will befriend till death. This was not only the
foundation of the friendship of the four people but of the four families
from two different religions. Their relationship was announced publicly
through the exchange of Pugs.

The beginning of new relationships and the peak of friendship was
announced publicly. They loved each other more than their relatives.
Even the mother of Lal Singh used to say that Mutali is also her son.
Both of them grew up together under shady trees. After some time, Lal
became a police inspector under British administration, but the
friendship continued. Mutali was the continuous visitor of Lal where
ever he got transferred. The roots of their friendship could be traced
back to the relations and friendship of their ancestors. They shared the
stories of their ancestors and invasions of the region.

The region of Punjab has survived many invasions. The thirst, greed,
and hunger of the invaders snatched the jewels of this land and
separated people in the name of religion. In return, a hybrid culture
and language were developed. The long persistent family codes also
vanished with the passage of time. Invaders came like Makri2 and
destroyed everything and moved to second place. Makri comes like clouds
in summer and eats everything in the fields and moves to attack another
place. The natives used to beat the drum to destabilize their stay
because they destroyed the farmers' possessions. Makri consists of
billions of insects who move in one group, stay at one place, and then
move to the second one. These pests destroyed villages after villages,
and the poor farmers mostly could not endure the pain of this loss.

Relating to the story, it is narrated that there was a Vair3 between
Mutali and Badhri before the British colonization. They wanted to kill
each other like their fathers. Mutali was a farmer while his enemy
Badhri and his friend Ranjeet Singh were thieves. Both the groups were
in search of each other when Inspector Lal Singh sent a Munshi4 to call
Mutali in the police station. Mutali, on the other hand, was happy to
know that his friend has been transferred to Kot-Momin Police Station as
an inspector and distributed sweets in the whole village on this
occasion.

With morning light, Mutali was riding in the air, with no fear,
because he was equipped with a pistol and a gun's pair. In the
clouds of terror and thunder, a tall man with big moustaches, long
majaliy5 and lambachola6 entered Kot-Momin police station, to meet his
friend inspector Lal Singh. After the greeting and long discussion, Lal
Singh requested his friend to submit his weapons as keeping weapons was
banned by the government. However, it was a shocking news for Mutali,
and he felt distressed, as he had two enemies, Ranjeet Singh and Badhri,
from whom he had to protect himself and his family, and keeping the
weapon always gave him with a sense of security.

On this account, Mutali accused the Lal Singh of being a servant of
Firangies (English masters) and expressed his fear that without the
weapon, he will not be able to protect himself from his enemies. Lal
Singh assured him of providing security and guaranteed him that in any
such incident he will take revenge from his enemies. In the meanwhile, a
spy rode from the police station and informed Ranjeet Singh and Badhri
that Mutali was going back with an open hand. Upon which both the friend
rode on horses to kill Mutali.

Mutali was on the way of his home with deep thinking of his past,
present and future. He was thinking about the resistance shown by his
ancestors against colonizers. When he reached at Chanonshah (Darbar). He
saw two riders were coming towards him. Mutali found shelter in a house
were the household women protected him from the attack. Here the authors
of the story portray the strong culture of Punjab, where respect for
women is of utmost importance. The enemies were helpless to reach and
kill Mutali as they could not sidestep the cultural values. However, as
they thought that the survival of Mutali would now be a summon to their
death, they somehow managed to negotiate with the house owners to
abandon Mutali's protection and let them kill him. Both the
enemies, thus, killed Mutali.

Subsequently, the situation in the village became very tense, as the
villagers were not only worried about the Mutali murder but were more
concerned and wept on the disintegration of their regional culture, that
why the house owners did not give protection to the person who had taken
shelter. In Punjab, even the enemies at homes are treated as guests. As
a protest, the villagers boycotted the house owners and this family
bhanda7 was thrown out that day.

Sonay Putar Punjab day Tay Sath Daryawan da ay Ang

Mathy Dharti Punjab di ahy keran nahi daindy wand

Sikh bulandat tay Ronda:

Ki ina lantian nay piti hoi si bhang

Sonay shahir Punjab day tay sonahy oday rang.

Short Story: Section-2

The whole family of Lal Singh was distressed over the death of
Mutali. Lal's mother used to say that she has lost her son and she
could not sleep due to the distraught and grief. After one year she died
and told her son that he had to take revenge of Mutali at any cost,
otherwise she would not forgive him on the day of judgement. He decided
to leave the job and take revenge, but his wife stopped him from doing
so and advised that he can take better revenge while living the police
job.

Lal Singh Used To Say:

"Mutali was a lion, his friendship and my promise are like
sunshine, in my mind, until I will not kill Ranjeet Singh and Badhri,
nothing is divine."

- Unsung Heroes, Dr. Rasib Mahmood

Time was passing by and Lal Singh was going down day by day. People
were asking, "what happened to Lal?" His hair turned grey, he
went on medical leave. During his rest, he felt pain in his chest as her
mother felt. He used to see Mutali in his dreams. Mutali always advised
him to cut his long hair. Later, malaria spread in the locality, and his
wife died due to the disease. Lal promised that he will never marry
again and will soon quench his pain which saddened him through centuries
and made his soul cry.

Soon after, a spy told Lal Singh that Badhri and Ranjeet Singh used
to come to Said Sail and were his good friends. As Said Sail possess
vast land, both stayed in his house every month for some time. Lal Singh
planned to meet Said Sail and to use him as a source to take the revenge
from Mutali's enemies. The meeting was planned and one night Said
Sail came to meet him. Said Sail wanted to know the reason for the
invitation. Upon knowing, that Lal Singh wanted to kill his guests, the
thought angered him furiously as it was against the traditions and
customs of the region to harm the guests. However, Lal Singh threatened
him that if he did not help, he may file a non-bailable case against
him, on his illegal activities and crimes. One night, Said Sail called
Lal Singh and reported that the guests were sleeping in the house with
barren hands. Lal Singh thus fired on Ranjeet Singh and Badhri and
killed them.

ANALYSIS OF "UNSUNG HEROES"

Pug And Hug Of Punjab

The story encompasses various themes such as colonization,
resistance, trans-cultural affinity of the natives, regionalism,
globalization, separation, and materialism. Above all, the role of Pug
and custom of exchanging Pugs in Punjab is much symbolic and signifies
the loyalty of the natives. The tradition conveys the moral values of
the region, modes of friendship which have become ancient in the present
age. The story conveys the ancient picture of the region which is almost
unacceptable in the postmodern age. But the arrival of Navjot Singh
Sidhu in Prime Minister Imran Khan's oath-taking ceremony gives new
colors to the ancient oral story. Three guests were invited from the
neighboring land on the oath-taking ceremony but only Navjot Singh Sidhu
reached with a Punjabi Pug. Pug is a symbol of loyalty and friendship of
Punjabi people.

It is a fact that British colonizers played a vital role in dividing
the region and the seeds of hatred were sown in that period, but people
of both Punjabs have not forgotten their traditions.

The story also signifies how the friendships are loyal, and friends
do not hesitate to slaughter and sacrifice for friends just because of
the exchanged Pugs. This Pug Diplomacy has great significance for Hug
Diplomacy between two Jutts in the postmodern age which has not only
opened the Gurdaspur Corridor, but it has also re-established the
purity, loyalty, and sincerity of the natives. The natives of Punjab are
royal by birth.

Like African theorists, Indian theorists and critics have worked a
lot on postcolonial theory, Homi Bhabha and Gayatri Spivak are prominent
figures among them (Spivak, 2012). Spivak has talked about the
suppressed voices of the subalterns, but African writers have stern
response towards colonization as compared to the writers of the
Subcontinent. It seems to be very interesting when the convention of the
same hatred is found in the folktales of Punjab (Anand, 1974). African
Postcolonial theorists are of the view that colonization is evil in the
name of good. Same is the case in folktale documented by Rasib
Mahmood.

"The region has passed through many invasions. The thirst,
greed and hunger of invaders had snatched the Jewels of our land and
separated us on the name of religion. In return, they provided us with a
hybrid culture and language. Mirrors are helpless to show us a clear
picture. The family codes will also vanish with the passage of time.
Invaders came like Makri and destroyed everything and moved to a second
place. Makri consists of billions of sects move in one group and stay at
one place and then moves to the other place. Makri comes like clouds in
summer and eats everything in the fields. The natives used to beat the
drum to destabilize the stay of these sects because their stay destroyed
all the possessions of the native farmers. These living beings destroyed
villages after villages and any farmers could not bear the pain of this
loss."

- Unsung Heroes, Dr. Rasib Mahmood

The natives of Punjab disliked the culture and traditions of the
colonizers and other communities which were based upon the
superficiality of westernization. They thought that it was identity
crises for the natives. Through adopting the culture and language of the
colonizers they would lose their identity with the passage of time.

The natives were living peacefully before British colonization
(Visram, 2015). There was no religious extremism and natives of various
sects and religions were living like families. The stories of their
friendship are very prominent across the world. The documented story
shows that Muslims and Sikhs had so close relationships that they take
revenge of each other. But at the same time, the story portrays the
revenge and heartedness of the natives against the invaders/colonizers.
Moreover, it also shows that inculcation of the colonizers led to the
division of the region, especially Punjab into parts, one became Indian
Punjab, and another became Pakistan Punjab.

Before separation, there were long friendly relationships among the
Muslims and Sikhs in Punjab. Their friendship and enmity were pure from
materialism and economic determinism. The societies in past were quite
different from the present societies because of their strong beliefs in
social values and humanitarianism. Along with religious and cultural
differences, there was peace and harmony in the region. There was no
concept of materialism and capitalism. Neighbors felt the pain of each
other. Nonetheless, imperialism led the world towards globalization and
industrialization. This revolution has its own pros and cons. It
generated the hate among the nations, tribes, and sects. The people
living peacefully with each other became enemy within no time just
because of societal changes and globalization which generated
competition among the people and nations, exclusively infusing the
economic competition.

Globalization has played a vital role in transforming the societies
and the mindsets, especially on the people of colonial regions and
developing countries (Spechler, 2000). Nevertheless, it has its positive
and negative effects as well. The emergence of industrialization has
affected the social and cultural values of the civilizations across the
world. Material interests determine the friendship and enmity of the
countries as well as individuals, that is why there is no concept of
lasting friendship and enmity in the postmodern world (Kellner, 2003).
The friendship of the nations, as well as individuals, totally based
upon their mutual interests.

The documented story in this paper illustrates the picture of
regionalism which has now turned into globalization and underlines the
materialism which has directly affected the pure feelings of the
natives. The natural habits and instincts have changed to superficial
ones. Indigenization, hybridization, and inculcations of cultures have
affected both sides. Existing civilizations have reshaped across the
world because of the emergence of the global phenomenon. Trans-cultural
affinity has reached to its end because of the interference of the
imperial powers.

Along with the analysis, the above story also shows a deep
friendship and the enmity of the Sikhs and Muslims, beyond their
religious and cultural boundaries. There were close love and respect
bonds between the two distinct religious communities. The friendship
between Badhri and Ranjeet Singh was unshakeable until their death. But
on the other hand, their trust on Sail proved a mental misconception.
Their host and partner proved disloyal and hypocrite when he informed
their enemy to kill them.

Regionalism

The story shows regionality, where the culture, social norms and
traditions of the society are very prominent. The natives never forget
their promise with each other and always keep their words at any cost.
They think beyond materialism. There seems to be a natural connection
between the natives of the region. Muslims and Sikhs had a long series
of friendship with each other because of the commonalities of social
norms and traditions. Breaking promise is not in ghuti8 of Punjab. The
fertility of the land has a profound effect on the minds of the natives.
The individual has the purity of souls which can be seen in the
friendship between the people from two religions. Badhri and Ranjeet
Singh also represent the purity of land in the story.

Friendship

Friendship beyond the cultural and religious boundaries is another
emerging theme of the story. The Sikh and Muslim friends are loyal with
each other more than their religious fellows. Singh and Badhri's
friendship is the best example of the story. Through their friendship,
their family relationship established and remained constant until their
death. It is not wrong to presume that the friendship bonds are taken
seriously as a religious practice in Punjab and in the Punjabi culture.
The examples of the oral story are also applicable to Sidhu and Imran
Khan.

Revenge

The aim of the Lal Singh's life was to take revenge from
Ranjeet Singh and Badhri because of his promise to his friend Mutali. He
left all the luxuries of his life just for the sake of this revenge. He
forgot his cultural and religious affinity. His revenge was more pious
for him as compared to his cultural and religious affinity.

CONCLUSION

This research paper substantiates that the trans-religious affinity
and strong friendship ties predominately exist in Punjab and the natives
treat them like religious beliefs. The Sikh and Muslim characters have
proved this notion in the story who remained friends until their death.
Moreover, the Pug signifies the loyal friendship in Punjab. The Punjabi
literature presents it as a sign of diplomacy of mediaeval Punjab. We
can see its reflection in the friendship of Navjot Singh Sidhu and Imran
Khan. This friendship has not only opened the Gurdaspur corridor for the
Sikh pilgrims but also established a new history. Navjot Singh Sidhu hug
with the Pakistan officials in the oath ceremony is also a great
significance of the love and respect between the people of Punjab across
borders. It can be seen as the renewal of the Jutts' Pug diplomacy
of the past into Hug diplomacy of Post-modern Punjab.

It is thus considered that the Muslims and Sikhs have always
condemned the foreign invasions and sustained to promote their own
culture.